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So.
Dr. Paullus went to the grocery store today.
He brought back chicken burgers for lunch. (He's so great. :-)
But, th ecooking of said chicken burgers (bake for 7.5 minutes, then flip and repeat) and the ensuing tension that resulted from my trying to microwave something and, as a result, stopping the timer, got me thinking about cooking philosophies. (A bit ranty, just deal. I'm venting. It's really no big thing. :-)
See.
I cook.
Occasionally, I might even go so far as to say that I Cook. With a capital 'C'.
I can usually (not always, but usually) come up with something -- even something fairly tastey (although, eventually, we'll find out if my opinion of that skill survives parenthood...) -- with not a lot of time and previously unknown ingredients.
I'm not an Iron Chef (if only because my presentation is usually somewhat lacking) but I'm pretty damn good when I'm in my own kitchen.
Not to toot my own horn or anything. ;-)
The thing is, because I'm at home in a kitchen, and I know I've got some pretty good instincts for food, I'm really, really comfortable... eye-balling measurements, for example, or guesstimating cooking times.
The chicken loaf recipe I posted a few days ago? Made up out of my head, during preparation, and thrown together so that it would end up more or less the right consistency.
And it worked (even thoguh it ended up needing about double the cooking time I expected).
Anyway.
Dr. Paullus is coming from a totally different area of the spectrum. He has a few specific things that he can make (and make well), and he's very reliant on knowing in advance, exactly how much of each ingredient he's going to need, and how long a given dish needs to cook for.
To the second, it would seem (at least going by todays little run-in).
What I did: I made toast (no problem) and I melted cheese on top (PROBLEM!!!). He kinda freaked. (Which is to say: He kinda snapped at me as if I'd just let our kid go running across the street in front of a transport truck).
I don't use kitchen timers.
I use my nose.
Failing that, or if I'm feeling unusually uncertain about things, I use a clock and just remember (approximately) when I put the dish into the oven.
As such, a lack of timer is no big deal.
At all.
For him -- going by the reaction -- a lack of timer is a huge big emergency because the food might burn if it's cooked a minute and a half too long.
For fuck's sake.
If you're not possitive when you put something in the oven, either:
A) Look at it, smell it, and see how close it appears to being done -- and adjust your wait-time accordingly,
OR
B) *guess* how much time has elapsed (assuming it hasn't been very long) and adjust the reston of your cooking time accordingly. So, in the case of the chicken fiasco, all that was really necessary was to (1) assume that they'd been in for about two minutes, (2) let them cook for another five or six minutes, (3) take them out, flip them over and gauge based on breading-colouration and smell how much more cooking time they *really* needed, and (4) cook them for that long.
Or, heck, pretend that they'd just gone in and cook them for the extra two minutes. I guarantee you they wouldn't have been ruined.
Honestly.
<*sigh*>
But he doesn't know how to do that, and harping at him about it is just... nasty. It won't actually solve any problems or teach him anything about cooking.
So, instead, I gripe to you lovely people. :-) (I'm sure you're all so thrilled). :-)
- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)
Dr. Paullus went to the grocery store today.
He brought back chicken burgers for lunch. (He's so great. :-)
But, th ecooking of said chicken burgers (bake for 7.5 minutes, then flip and repeat) and the ensuing tension that resulted from my trying to microwave something and, as a result, stopping the timer, got me thinking about cooking philosophies. (A bit ranty, just deal. I'm venting. It's really no big thing. :-)
See.
I cook.
Occasionally, I might even go so far as to say that I Cook. With a capital 'C'.
I can usually (not always, but usually) come up with something -- even something fairly tastey (although, eventually, we'll find out if my opinion of that skill survives parenthood...) -- with not a lot of time and previously unknown ingredients.
I'm not an Iron Chef (if only because my presentation is usually somewhat lacking) but I'm pretty damn good when I'm in my own kitchen.
Not to toot my own horn or anything. ;-)
The thing is, because I'm at home in a kitchen, and I know I've got some pretty good instincts for food, I'm really, really comfortable... eye-balling measurements, for example, or guesstimating cooking times.
The chicken loaf recipe I posted a few days ago? Made up out of my head, during preparation, and thrown together so that it would end up more or less the right consistency.
And it worked (even thoguh it ended up needing about double the cooking time I expected).
Anyway.
Dr. Paullus is coming from a totally different area of the spectrum. He has a few specific things that he can make (and make well), and he's very reliant on knowing in advance, exactly how much of each ingredient he's going to need, and how long a given dish needs to cook for.
To the second, it would seem (at least going by todays little run-in).
What I did: I made toast (no problem) and I melted cheese on top (PROBLEM!!!). He kinda freaked. (Which is to say: He kinda snapped at me as if I'd just let our kid go running across the street in front of a transport truck).
I don't use kitchen timers.
I use my nose.
Failing that, or if I'm feeling unusually uncertain about things, I use a clock and just remember (approximately) when I put the dish into the oven.
As such, a lack of timer is no big deal.
At all.
For him -- going by the reaction -- a lack of timer is a huge big emergency because the food might burn if it's cooked a minute and a half too long.
For fuck's sake.
If you're not possitive when you put something in the oven, either:
A) Look at it, smell it, and see how close it appears to being done -- and adjust your wait-time accordingly,
OR
B) *guess* how much time has elapsed (assuming it hasn't been very long) and adjust the reston of your cooking time accordingly. So, in the case of the chicken fiasco, all that was really necessary was to (1) assume that they'd been in for about two minutes, (2) let them cook for another five or six minutes, (3) take them out, flip them over and gauge based on breading-colouration and smell how much more cooking time they *really* needed, and (4) cook them for that long.
Or, heck, pretend that they'd just gone in and cook them for the extra two minutes. I guarantee you they wouldn't have been ruined.
Honestly.
<*sigh*>
But he doesn't know how to do that, and harping at him about it is just... nasty. It won't actually solve any problems or teach him anything about cooking.
So, instead, I gripe to you lovely people. :-) (I'm sure you're all so thrilled). :-)
- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)
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